Fung Siu Yin is the challenger in Sunday’s district council poll and a part of a new face in local politics.

Standing for the Lantau seat, she is pro-democratic, green and a member of a new group called Islands Connect, which is ensuring that for the first time democrats contest seats in all four islands in the district.

Fung, 33, has lived in Tung Chung for 20 years. She has worked as a Legco research assistant for the past eight years, and is currently on Eddie Chu Hoi-dick’s staff.

She opposes Lantau Tomorrow Vision, which she says has had scant scrutiny from the council. If elected she would call public hearings across Lantau to debate the project.

She has also done a good deal of work on public transport issues, finding that South Lantau residents object to the Sunday fare hikes and want to see more frequent services of both bus and ferry.

Having spent her early career working on senior and social welfare issues, she also advocates expanding community centres and medical services for the elderly and wants to set aside land for a retiree-run community farm.

The vacant Mui Wo high school, the wetlands and the Mui Wo improvement works are also high on her agenda.

Here is a condensed version of Lantau News’ interview with Siu Yin.

Why are you running for District Council?

I have lived in Tung Chung for about 20 years. In 2014 I knew we had big developments coming into Lantau. From that we tried to have some education and oral history documentation to tell people what would happen.

In 2018, the Lantau Tomorrow Vision was announced. In those four years, I had learnt more about Lantau people, and we know more about their needs. There were many problems with elderly citizens, and some education needs.

In our group, Save Lantau Alliance, we discussed the elections and we wanted to have a role, to have more debate in the community to talk about what we want for Lantau’s future.  That’s why we are running for election this year.

How do you see the role of the district council?

They get a lot of information from the government, and the government often consults with them on education, bus services, medical services, etc.

The councillors also can vote for the chief executive and one of them can be elected to Legco. They can meet with different government departments, they can share their ideas. They have many ways to work with the government.

You talk about reforming the district council. What would you do?

The Islands District Council has 18 members, including eight ex officio. So many people don’t have a voice. So we want to open a platform. We want the residents in the Lantau community, who care about the community, they can voice out. 

For example, the bus company wanted to increase bus fares. They just informed the district council but most Lantau people didn’t know.  In May we did a street survey. We found more than 68% of people didn’t know the bus company was applying to increase the fare.

We will have social media channels, like Facebook or WhatsApp. Give people many channels to share their opinions.  We think if the district councils are working, then there will be less anger in the community.

Can district councils do anything to address the current political crisis?

We can open many forums to discuss what people are ask for.  Is it reasonable or not reasonable, what is the meaning of the five demands, and so on. Because now you are blue, I am yellow, we are totally divided into two colours and we don’t want to talk to each other. It’s not a healthy relationship. 

Lantau Tomorrow Vision is a huge project and the government seems determined to build it. What can you do in the district council?

The district council talked about Lantau Tomorrow Vision just once, for one or two hours, and then a show of hands. 

If we can get to District Council, we will have an agenda item to discuss Lantau Tomorrow Vision. We want to have a public hearing.  It’s not local to Central, so we will have public hearings in Lantau – in Mui Wo, Tai O, and so on, and we can hear people’s opinions.

How to help Lantau’s senior population?

Lantau has a population of about 24,000, of which about 7,000-8,000 are over 50. But we have just one elderly home in Mui Wo. Two years ago, the home in Tai O closed.

The medical system is very important for them. We have just two clinics, with a limited service level, in Mui Wo and Tai O. It’s not enough. Also in Mui Wo the population has risen to more than 6,000. That’s why we ask the clinic employ two doctors, now just one.

We ask for community support service for the elderly. Some of them need help in cooking and cleaning, so they can live in their homes. We would like to set up community care services where they go to people’s homes, help cook and clean.

We also need community centres for the elderly, where they can read newspapers, sing together, have some health checks.

Right now we have a small centre in Mui Wo. In Tai O – nothing. In South Lantau – zero. NGOs provide services from Tung Chung, but that’s not reasonable. So that is why we hope to have centres in South Lantau and Tai O.

Also, elderly people feel bored. They say they would like to have a community garden. They know how to farm. They can raise chickens; chickens can eat waste food that humans won’t eat.

They can provide value in return – food, recycling, education for young people as well. So they become teachers. It’s more positive, right?

What is the status of the Mui Wo school?

The school [the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School] has been closed for 12 years.  We want to re-use the school for the elderly services, medical service and also education services – for kindergarten, primary school – so it is not wasted.

In the last few months we have had communication with the residents. Many of the Mui Wo kids are under six years old. They are going to Tai O, Tung Chung or Tsuen Wan for kindergarten. We see here is a need in the community. We have an empty school – it’s a perfect match.

You have done some work on public transport issues. What have you found?

Two months ago we did a survey and held a forum.

For buses, the most important thing people are concerned about is service frequency.  People also worry about the safety of the double decker buses. On the upper deck most of them don’t have seat belts. There’s no room for luggage upstairs, either, so they have to put their suitcases in the aisle. It’s dangerous.

For both bus and ferry, people want to cancel the extra charge for public holidays and Sundays. They think it’s not reasonable.

The government gives subsidies to ferry companies. We want to improve transparency and open up the financials of the ferry companies so we know how they are spending the subsidies.

People also care about frequency. We need more ferries at peak times. The bus and ferry companies and residents don’t have the chance to communicate. District council members can create a platform for us to talk – we can hold a meeting once every two months.

The government has made promises over the Pui O wetlands but has done nothing. How can you help protect the wetlands?

We have a law to protect the South Lantau wetlands and also to protect the buffalo. Two years ago the government agreed to update the law, but this year the Chief Executive Policy Address again failed to mention it.

I think district council members can raise this issue again.

In South Lantau and Mui Wo, we have different parties. One will love and care about the environment. They know the ecosystem is very important for the community.  The second – they want more development. They have the intention to destroy the wetlands. They also have the intention to move the buffalo and cows.

The first party includes many of the residents. They love the buffalos and love the wetland, but they are scared to speak out. If district council members can collect people’s ideas about the wetlands and how to deal with problems of the buffalo and try to find a way to form a community consensus.

Also we have connections with the FEHD and the EPD, some of them are friends. We ask them what are the problems they face. Resources? Manpower? Rural party problems? We want to know what the problems are and try to find a way to protect the wetland and the buffalos.

I think education is very important. We have some residents who know a great deal about the cattle and buffalo and are willing to share. If more people know how to communicate with the animals and understand their behaviour, that will help.

What is the progress of the Mui Wo facelift?

They call it the Mui Wo improvement works. The first question is: improvements for whom? For tourists or residents?

When we saw the plan from 2017, we didn’t see improvement for residents. They moved the bicycle parking far away, and then moved the restaurants into the ferry pier building.

We collected some opinions. People really strongly disagree with moving the bike parking. It’s not convenient for them. But now the problem is not enough space. That’s why we have bicycles everywhere.  So people suggest that we should extend the bike parking because more people are moving here.

So we asked the CEDD for more information. They told us the plan was made in 2017, but can change and they are considering changes.  But they don’t think it will happen immediately – maybe it might take another five or ten years to finalise this stage. 

For the residents we think that is good, so we have more time to discuss what we need. Hopefully more time to debate and more time for them to change their plan so it works for residents, not just tourists.